Body conditioning apparatus suit



BODY CONDITIONING APPARATUS SUI'I' Filed Deo. 1e, 41959 INVENTORPau&.Banl

Hfs ATTORNEY Patented i Sept. 16, 1941 l* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICElBODY CONDITIONING APPARATUS SUIT Paul A. Bancel, Upper Montclair, N. J.,assignor to Ingersoll-Rand Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation ofNew Jersey Application December 16, 1939, Serial No. 309,636

(Cl. 12s-144) 6 Claims.

This invention relates to air ventilating apparatus and, moreparticularly, itrelates to a suit continually supplied to the space inorder to ventilata it.

A further object is to provide a suit having a ventilated space aboutthe wearers body in which air is introduced in such a manner that ittravels over the entire body of the wearer before escap.

ing from the suit.

These and other objects will be apparent from 'the following disclosureof which the drawing bient temperature may be in the neighborhood of y100 F. and consequently, such a person is also at such a temperature.Furthermore, the humidity is so high that a person can get no relief bythe evaporation of body moisture or perspiration with the result that hesuilfers considerably. If the metabolic heat couldbe absorbed or removedfrom such a person, he would be cooled and enabled to work although theambient temperature was high.

In orderl to remove the metabolic heat, I propose subjecting the personsbody to an atmosphere of air at ambient or body temperature which is dryenough to absorb the metabolic heat solely by evaporation of moisturefrom the wearers body. Dry air, or air of low relative humidity for sucha purpose, may be produced conveniently in some localities by expandingvcompressed air which has been cooled to ambient temperature -and driedat about 100 pounds gage pressure to substantially atmospheric pressure.

Accordingly, it is an object ofthe present invention to provide a methodand means to cool and ventilate a persons body.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means whereby themetabolic heat of a per-7 son may be removed by use of air of lowrelative humidity.

Another object is to provide means whereby a person may be cooled by theevaporation of body moisture into a medium of low relative humidity.

Still another object is to provide means whereby compressed air may beexpanded and employed tocool and ventilato a persons body.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a suit orgarment wherein a ventilated space is provided around the wearers body.

It is also an object to provide a suit having a ventilated space aboutthe wearers body which permits freedom of movement by the wearer.

Yet another object is to provide a suit having a space about the.wearers body wherein air is forms a part and in which c Figure 1 showsa sectional view of the present invention, Figure 2 is a view partly inelevation and partly in section of the present invention,

. With reference to the drawing, it will be seen that the body iscovered by a close tting absorbent inner garment, such as a woolengarment, in order to absorb any moisture or perspiration and to providea uniform dispersion of such mois-Q ture into the surrounding air. Withsuch a garment, the cooling eifect is uniformly spread over the wearersskin, and, at the same time, the garment acts as a "buffer" in that itprevents direct contact-between the wearer and the warm inner surface ofthe suit 2 which completely envelopes the wearers body except for thehead, hands and feet. The suit 2 is made of some material which isimpervious tov air and' appropriate seals 3 are providedat the wearersankles to prevent any leakage between the suit andthe ankles. Similarseals 5 are placed at the 'wearers kwrists and,

for the same purpose, a seal 'I surrounds the l wearers neck.

The suit may be donned by opening the "zipper 8 at the front of the suitand the belt Il which viously, the air supplied directly by thecompressor is at a high pressure.u By expanding this air in the mannerexplained hereinafter the pressure is reduced to a pressure slightlygreater than atmospheric pressure. The conduit I3 is Y u ankles.

supported at the wearers backon a hook I clamped to the belt II and thesuit 2 by rivet I1.

From the back of the s uit the conduit I3 extends to the front of thesuit where it is coupled by means of coupling ||3 to another conduit 2|.

As shown in Fig. 4, the end of conduit I3 is provided with a bushing 23having a central 1 channel 25 and provided with threads 21. The

bushing. 23 is designed to cooperate with the -member 23. The conduit 2|is supplied at the open end thereof with the nipple 3| having bayonetpoints 33 adapted to be inserted through the slots 35 in the rear wall31 of the member I3. Adjacent the open end of the nippleA 3| a partitionwall33 extends acrossthe bore 4I of the nipple and has an oriiice 43centrally located therein'. When the air supplied by the compres'- sorat a high pressure passes through the orilnce, it expands substantiallyby the irreversible adiabatic process with the result that, as theApressure decreases and the volume increasesthe relative humidity of theair is greatly lowered, while the temperature is substantiallyunchanged. Within the member I3 is placed a guide wall 45 on which thenipple 3| rests when it is iny serted in the member. The nipple is heldwithin the member`l3 by the co-action of the bayonet points 33 and therear wall 31.

Between the bushing 23 and the guide wall 45 a rubber washer 41 isplaced which surrounds the en d of the nipple 3| This washer acts as thebushing 23 and the nipple 3|.

The check valve is provided with holes 5| of suflicient diameter so thatthey will not be entirely covered by the end oi' the nipple 3| when thatnipple pushes the check valve away froml the seat or washer 41. Sincethe member 23 is connected tothe bushing 23 by threads 21, the member 29will be continually secured to the conduit I3. Ii the nipple 3| is notheld in the member I3, the air pressure supplied through conduit I3 willhold vthe check valve 43 on the seat provided by 'washer 41 and thusprevent escape of air from the conduit I3. However,-

when the nipple 3| is inserted into the member I3, it will remove thevalve 43 from its seat,

' permitting the passage of airaround the valve v The fitting 53 isprovided with appropriatepas- -a cushion for the check valve 43,lying'between v Beil, located adjacent the wearers-wrists, must beprovided in order that 'there will be a circubelt shall not prevent thepassage of air by the i wearers waist, corrugations 63, .10, 1| and 13,formed of the same material as the suit, are provided within the suit.It will thus be seen that a Ventilating suit has been provided whichenables dehumidied air totravel freely over the wearers body in orderthat the wearer may be cooled.

I claim: v

1. In a Ventilating suit for a human body comprising at least one layerof ilexible material impervious to air forming an enclosure about thebody, seals on the legs; arms and neck of the suit, a belt on the suit,a coupling on the belt adapted iorvconnection to a source of air underpressure, a conduit connected to the coupling and extendlng around saidlbelt, channels formed inside the suit extending down the-pants legs ofthev suit, connections between the conduit and the channels, ports inthe channels to discharge'air from the channels to the enclosure, andports in the sleeves to discharge air from the enclosure to theatmosphere.

2. In a Ventilating suitfor a human prising at least one layer of ailexble material impervious to air and providing a space between thebody and the suit, a belt on the suit, a coupling on the belt adapted tobe connected toa source of air under pressure, a conduit on the couplingto convey air around the waist of the suit, a channel formed on eitherside of the suit inand independent of the air space and extendmeans toconnect the conduitto said channels, ports in the channels adjacent thebottom of the suit through which air may enter said space from theconduits, and exhaust ports adjacent the outer end of the .suit sleevesto discharge air from the suit to atmosphere.

3. In a Ventilating suit for a human body com- I prising at least onelayer of a flexible lmaterial impervious to air and providing a spacebetween vthe Ibody and the suit, means to supply air to A the suit, achannel to receive the air supplied sages to permit the air from `theconduit 2i to l enter the channel 55 formed within the suit by a flap 51of the'same material as the suit. From the tting 53 a conduit 53 extendsaround the Asuit to the opposite side thereof and connects with anotheriltting 6|, similar in design to the fitting 53 which'serves the samepurpose in that it supplies airv to therchannel 33 formed within thesuit.I The channels 55 and 83 are sealed from thedns'lde ofthe suit andextend to the wearers are formed in the walls of the channel so thatthrough and into the space between the suit Adjacent the wearers anklesports 55 .v

and-the wearer to thereby inilate the suit to a certain extent. Sincetheair supplied is slightly g above atmospheric pressure and since itcannot -escape -at elthernthe vwearers ankles, neck or wrists. somemeans, such as the exhaust portsl and conduct it down a leg of the suit,a port in the conduit to discharge air into the suit air space, and anexhaust port in a sleeve of the suit to discharge air from the air spaceto atmosphere. 4 a

4. In a Ventilating suit for a human body comprising a layer oi.' exiblematerial impervious to air adapted upon inilation to remain out ofcontact with the body, means to seal the suit adjacent the neck, handsand feet of the suit against the escape of air from the suit, means tosupply air to the suit, sealed channels formed of said y suit materialon the suit having ports communieating with the enclosure formed by thesuit and adapted to conduct air supplied to the suit to the ports, andexhaust ports .provided on the the air from the comprising a suit madeof at least one layer of` l exible material impervious to air forming anenclosure about the body, seals on the legs, arms body comand neck ofthe suit, a belt on the suit, a compressor adapted to supply airunder'pressure at ambient temperature, a coupling on the belt adaptedIorconnection to the compressor, an oriilce associated with the couplingto expand and 5 lower the relative humidity of the air supplied by thecompressor, a conduit connected to the, coupling and extending aroundsaid belt, channels formed inside the suit extending down the pants legsof the suit, connections between the 10' conduit and the channels, portsin the channels to discharge air from the channels to the enclosure, andports in the sleeves to discharge air from the enclosure to theatmosphere. l

6. In apparatus of the character described. a moisture absorbent garmentfor a persons body, a suit ot air impervious material forming anenclosure for the body, a compressor to supply dehumidiiled air underpressure at ambient tem'- perature, a belt on the suit, a coupling onthe belt connected to the compressor, an orifice in the coupling toexpand and lower the relative humidity of the air supplied by thecompressor, means in the suit to introduce the dehumidiiied air adjacentthe wearer's ankles, and means on the suit to discharge air yfrom thesuit adjacent the wearers wrists. v

PAUL A. BANCEL.

